Last week, President Donald Trump formally resurrected the Keystone XL Pipeline by granting a permit for construction to continue and offering help to speed the process. This marks a reversal from the previous administration, when Barak Obama worked to block the controversial pipeline.

North Dakota's Sen. John Hoeven and Rep. Kevin Cramer and Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp are lauding the president's decision to allow the project to move forward. The group supports the pipeline because it will boost job creation, economic growth and American independence.

TransCanada will finally be allowed to complete this long-overdue project with efficiency and with speed. It’s going to be an incredible pipeline, the greatest technology known to man or woman. And frankly, we’re very proud of it.

— President, Donald Trump

The Keystone pipeline has been the focus of a highly political debate that has been raging since 2008, when the TransCanada Corporation first applied for a permit to construct the pipeline. At issue is a proposed 1,179-mile section of the pipeline that would run through the heart of the Bakken Formation in order to deliver 800,000 barrels of petroleum to the refineries on the Gulf Coast.